Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-04-12
RAILROAD THIEVES.
WHOLESALE ARRESTS on The Pan.
HANDLE ROAD.
A Conspiracy Of Long Standing Broken
Up at Iast-A Big Raul.
nr ,Alerrnnh 70 ,ha pispalch.l


PrrsuuRaH, April Ill The most im-
portant errcsts ever made in this part OF |
the country were begun at an carly |
bour this morning. They will moi be |
complelod before late this afternoon, |
and at that time the officers of the Pan !
Handle railroad will have in cnstodythe |
most daring gang Of railroad robbers
This country has ever known. How |
many members belong TO 1t IS not |
known, hut they run up into hundreds
Their stealings have extended over
period OF two or three years, and the |
amount stolen reaches near a bali NH
lion dollars. Simultaneous arrests |
were made all along the line OF the
Pan Handle road between here and 90
humans Warrants have been III the
hands Of the officers for some time, and |
The Dcrsons arrested viii comprise
nearly the entire freight-men OF the
line They include the conductors,
brakemcn. engineers, and firemen.
The nnpleadcrs Of the gang are
outside the railroad business, are
known, aud some OF them are
now believed to he under arrest.
The first arrests were made about
O'Clock this morning, the police sur
prising eighteen men at their boarding
houses. The men we're taken at once
10 Jail. Further arrests were made be-
tween 2 o'clock and daylight, when
fortv-six men-ali railroad employees,
conductors, brakcmen, tiremcn, and
enpincers--were behind the bars. Ia
speaking of the arrest prominent
officer Of the Panhandle road said /:
For three years past the Panhandle
road has been systematically robbed.
Cars on the siding and cars in moving
trains were broken open and goods
stolen, including every description OF
merchandise. IL is estimated that at
least 600, 1000 worth of goods were
taken. for which the company had to
pay. In August last we got a clue,
aud the company determined to push
IL 10 on end Detectives were en-
ploycd, and followed up every scent,
and finally we had the information
upon which to proceed. When every
thing was ready we decided to make a
move all along the line from Columbus
to Pittsburgh, and 2 o'clock this morn
ing was fixed to strike the blow. About
eighty warrants were issued for men In
Pittsburgh. can't tell how many for
other places, bnt it was at every point
along the line. 1t will run up in the
hundreds. 1t is the biggest thing OF
the kind that ever happened in Pitts
burg or in railroad matters in the world,
for nothing like it has ever happened
before. | cannot tell who the men are
under arrest, or who the ringleaders
are. This much will say, however.
We suspect outsiders of being implica-
ted in the robberies, but know nothing
positive" Among the arrested was a
man named Baker, against whom there
are thirty-eight charges. Early one
morning some months ago, at Sheridan
station, near this city, train was
stopped for water. An attack was
made on the crew, aud in the fight a
fireman was shot. He afterwards died
from bis injuries. At daybreak it was
found that two cars had been broken
open and their contents stolen. Baker
is accused of firing the shot that killed
the firemen, and this is understood to
be one of the thirty eight charges
against him.
SYSTEMATICALLY FOR YEARS.
John II. Hampton, attorney for the
Pennsylvania company, was seen this
morning in the Office of the detective
agency, where, sitting amidst hetero-
gcne0us collection OF plumber, he said {:
"These robberies have been carried on
Systematically for several years. The
company have long been aware that
there was a leakage somewhere, and as
early as September, 1886, they quietly
commenced investigations. Detectives
were placed on trains where goods
could be watched and the thieves
caught. We had already discovered
that the culprits were employees of the
company. In September there were
eighty crews Of freight trains on
the Pan-H Handle railroad coming into
Pittsburgh. on these no less than ssy-
euty five were found to be crooked. A
crew consists of a conductor, hagman,
and two brakemen. In some cases all
the men were involved; in others only
a part. The statement that the engi-
neers and firemen were mixed up III the
robbcrics is wrong. Not a single one IS
involved The goods were stolen inva-
lious ways. In many instances seals
were broken, while in others hatchets
were used 10 cut hole in the end OF n
car through which men crawled and
took what they coveted. Then they re-
ported The car in bad condition, claim
ing the hole had been made by acct
dent. The operations were all the re-
suit of "a combination. Arrangements
were carefully made, and each rascal
was assigned to his particular part of
the work in much the same way
as a bankrobbery is conducted
by professional craftsmen. do
not know that the members Of the com
bination were oath-bOund, or anything
Of that kind. but il is certain though,
that an understanding existed among
them and they acted in concert TO cover
each other smlsdoiuCs The thing which
alarmed US more than anything else was
that they stole largo quantities of whls-
key and drank it in lighthouses. They
needed vessels to hold the liquor, 30
they stole milk-cans and keptit in them.
Not daring TO keep whiskey openly in
the cars, they tore up the flooring and
hid il underneath. Men were contin-
ually reported drunk on duty, and the
probability of disaster was something
fearful to contemplate All kinds Of
goods were stolen, including sewing;
machines, guns reyolvers, cutlery, sill
yerware, cigars, clothing, liquors, gro
ceries. furniture, and, in fact, every
imaginable article that can be carried
on car, were quietly removed. Depre-
dations were committed oil along the
road, and the losers reside at points as
far west as Denver. Fences were es-
tablished in this city, where the stolen
property was taken and then sold, the
money being evenly divided among the
crews. II is impossible to give an ag-
gregate value of the property stolen,
but il will not reach 100000 as re-
ported.
GREAT EXCITEMENT.
The arrests have created the greatest
excitement among the railroad en-
ployees Of this city. The scenes about
the jail doors this morning, where the
A Rod fraf baraI